My To-Do (& Honey-Do) Lists

It’s February, and FINALLY, I’m feeling somewhat like myself again. It felt like I started 2012 trying to wade through quicksand — just not getting anywhere and getting mired deeper and deeper into the muck with every step. So something had to give, and unfortunately, for the past month, that something was Green Your Decor. But I’ve never been one to give up that easy, so I figure the best way to get myself back on track is to find something — anything — to do around my home to build some inspiration. Even my husband has said “you need a project.” But once I started looking around, I realized there are a LOT of somethings that I need to get done.

So here is a list, with photographic evidence in some cases, of things I really want/need to handle around here:

1. Find or build a console table for the living room. As you can see in the photo below, our living room lamp is currently living on a table that is entirely too small for the space. I’d like to find a used, solid wood console table to refinish or use as is — preferably with some closed storage. We’re also considering building a table ourselves, since my husband said the other day that he “wants to build something.”

2. Purchase a rug for the living room. For an apartment, we have a reasonably large living room. And to me, it just doesn’t feel complete without a rug. A 5 x 8 rug would just be too small, particularly in comparison to the sectional. So I need to find an affordable, natural fiber, 8″ x 10″ rug. Wish me luck!

3. Buy or make thermal curtains for the living room. I can only guess how much heat we lose through our glass door, but I know how cold it feels right in front of the door during the winter, and how hot it gets during the summer. Not to mention how unfinished the living room looks without any curtains. So it’s time to get some stylish thermal window treatments for that door.

4. Make a headboard for the master bedroom. As much as my husband and I loved our previous headboard made from Inhabit’s bamboo wall flats, we decided not to use them in this apartment, just because we didn’t feel like mounting anything on the wall this time. I have a couple ideas for a headboard, but I’m really thinking about trying to replicate the woven headboard shown below, from West Elm (though it’s no longer available). I have a pretty good idea of how it would work. Now, to try it.

5. Buy a rug for the master bedroom. We been planning to do this since our last apartment. I think it’s about time to tick it off the list.

6. Have my Freecycle chair reupholstered. Finally. Remember Grace? It’s only been…oh…almost 2 years since I first got her. Since its become painfully obvious to me that I am too much of a coward to attempt reupholstering my free barrel back chair myself, we’re just going to pay a professional to do it. Does anyone know of any good upholstery shops in the North Atlanta area?

7. Paint a wall in the master? I have a question mark next to this one because I’m just not sure if we want to paint again. In the end, I know myself, and we probably will. Especially because we’ve had an unopened gallon of deep, charcoal gray for about 2 years (yeah…that long), and I’m dying to use it.

8. Find a desk for my husband. He’s back in school pursuing his bachelor’s degree in project management, and he really needs a proper desk. Right now, he’s using a cheap fold-out table that just isn’t working.

9. Refinish my own desk. Remember the Mid-century Hooker mainline desk I painted a while back? Well, as you can see, the paint job didn’t hold up so well. Plus, I’d like to change the color to a rich turquoise — a few shades darker than the walls in my daughter’s room. I already have a quart of paint waiting for this job.

10. Clean up & decorate the office. We are buried under paper. As usual. But lately, I’ve been much worse at actually sorting through that paper. I’ve been lazy. And it’s a mess. Now that I’m sharing the office space with my husband, we really need a clean, efficient space so we both can focus. For me, that means not just cleaning up, but also prettifying the space a bit. Some art on the walls, maybe some tone-on-tone stripes on the walls? A nice mirror and desk lamp? We shall soon see 🙂

11. Decorate our third bedroom. Betcha didn’t know we have a third bedroom, right? Well, that’s because I rarely talk about it. When we rented this apartment, we got it specifically for the office-ready space (which is really supposed to be a breakfast nook) and the third bedroom. Now, when my stepsons are with us, they have their own room. And when they’re not here, it serves as an awesome guest room. But other than buying a bunk bed and some organic bedding, I’ve done nothing in that room. It’s time to do something about that.

12. Reupholster my $7 cane chair. Finally. I’ve had the fabric for this project for a long, long time. I have no idea why I haven’t done it yet, but it’s time to change that.

13. Redesign Green Your Decor. It’s been 2 years since I launched this site design. As much as I love it, it’s time for a change.

Like I said, there is a lot I could be doing around here. Which makes me wonder why I’ve been in such a rut with “nothing to do.” We’ll, there’s nothing like a big, fat list (and a great Spotify playlist) to kick my butt into gear. So over the next few weeks/months, I imagine there will be a lot of sanding, priming, painting, building, obsessing, wrapping, upholstering, sewing and ironing around here.

I love both of those chairs! And that navy fabric is awesome. January has been my “storing up energy” month. I feel like there’s a lot going on in my life right now, so I needed some down time too. We all need that.

Wow! You have so many projects have so many great projects ahead of you. You’re going to be a busy woman (or I should say “busier”), as you get these done.

I do have one word for the rugs, FLOR. I know you know about them. Their patterns are great and most have a high content of recycled materials in them. AND they are incredibly practical. I have one under our dining table and when I spill something and forget about taking it out, I can take out the square, wash it off in the sink and put it back. I will say that where there is a lot of walking, the sticky dots that keep it together don’t always hold, but to me that’s a minor inconvenience. Plus, you can send the squares back to be recycled. This is a great company with a wonderful design esthetic. We just talked to the pres on our radio show which will air next Monday.

I’m looking for…

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GREEN YOUR DECOR

Your Guide to Stylish, Sustainable Decorating & DIY

Hey, There!

I’m Jennae Petersen, and I’m a lot of things. A wife, a mother, a graphic designer and a connosieur of beautiful things. Green Your Decor was borne of my frustration with finding beautiful things that were also eco-friendly, and inspiration to reduce my own carbon footprint and help others do the same. LEARN MORE